The coalition government on Tuesday shared its plan with the International Monetary Fund for securing an additional $3b to bridge the financing gap as it expedites efforts to convince the lender to release the next loan tranche.
The IMF is seeking “necessary” financing assurances at the earliest to conclude talks with Pakistan on its stalled bailout, Fund’s mission chief for Pakistan, Nathan Porter, confirmed last week.
It should be noted that the $6 billion financing gap had been worked out on the assumption that the current account deficit would remain around $7 billion in the current fiscal year.
According to sources, Islamabad has informed the Washington-based lender about its plan to secure a $450 million worth second Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE-II) budget support loan.
Plans to get $1 billion from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and other commercial banks were also shared with the Fund officials along with plans to materialise pledges secured at the Geneva moot.
The sources added that once the staff-level agreement is signed with the IMF, it would become easy for Pakistan to secure financing.